If you watch the newspapers and the internet you can get a good deal on a player. You might have to wait a little while for a sale. I bought my Sharp player about 8 months ago for $300.
As far as downloads go, I don't think they will be mainstream for a long time. If I am going to pay for a high def movie, I want to have all the features and extras. I also like to actually own the media so I can watch whenever I want, wherever I want. Until quality Media servers are less expensive and download speeds are much faster I will stick with buying or renting Blu-ray disks. You can get the disks on sale at amazon and J and R for about 30 to 40 percent off.